Tutankhamun’s Funerary Bed Delivered to Grand Egyptian Museum

Tutankhamun’s Funerary Bed Delivered to Grand Egyptian Museum

The golden mask of King Tutankhamun is displayed inside a glass cabinet at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. (Reuters)

London - Asharq Al-Awsat

The Grand Egyptian Museum has welcomed the military wheel and the third funerary bed that belonged to pharaoh Tutankhamun.

The delivery is part of an Egyptian-Japanese project to transfer 72 antiques that will be displayed at the museum after the inauguration of its first phase by the end of 2018.

Director General of the Grand Egyptian Museum Tarek Tawfik said that the wheel is one of five others that have been transferred as part of the project.

The bed, one of the most prized in Tutankhamun’s possessions, depicts a cow known as “the great flood.” Ancient Egyptians believed that the cow used to protect the God Ra.

General Director of the museum’s art department Hasan Kamal said that the precious antiques were carefully packaged ahead of their delivery to the museum. The necessary restoration work and documentation was also undertaken, reported the German news agency.

He noted that the arrival of these two pieces completes the transfer of all the antiques listed in the Egyptian-Japanese project.

Head of the restoration department at the museum Issa Zaidan highlighted the teamwork and highest security standards that were respected while packing and preserving the bed and military wheel.